This sequel makes it fun to be the Prince again.

This sequel makes it fun to be the Prince again.

This sequel makes it fun to be the Prince again.

Too bad about all that aimless wandering, which would be annoying on its own but is even more bogged down by the frequent battles and their requisite load times. [Nov 2005, p.156]

Clever, addictive gameplay like this fits the Mario subject matter perfectly, but neither the story line (it's too cute to stomach, really) nor the visuals (can you say GBA?) do it justice. [Jan 2006, p.130]

One of the worst looking games to come out this year. [Feb 2006, p.110]

The only snag: You spend most of Combat Elite shooting at offscreen Germans, placing you at a natural and frustrating disadvantage. [Sept 2004, p.100]

The most impressive element of the game, though, is Skull Island itself. Grand and gorgeous, the environments never repeat, and the adventure never slackens.

The most impressive element of the game, though, is Skull Island itself. Grand and gorgeous, the environments never repeat, and the adventure never slackens.

The only snag: You spend most of Combat Elite shooting at offscreen Germans, placing you at a natural and frustrating disadvantage. [Sept 2004, p.100]

The most impressive element of the game, though, is Skull Island itself. Grand and gorgeous, the environments never repeat, and the adventure never slackens.

The most impressive element of the game, though, is Skull Island itself. Grand and gorgeous, the environments never repeat, and the adventure never slackens. [Jan 2006, p.116]

But maybe words like "solid," "competent," and "fine" tell you why it's also hard to recommend Quake 4: It's exactly what you've come to expect from a modern first-person shooter, and nothing else.

Does a pretty good job of walking the line between reheated leftovers and fresh meat. [Dec 2005, p.178]

As a game, Bulletproof is a disaster. Your G-Unit allies are so dumb they had to be made invincible to keep them alive.

RR6 lazily limps into the 360 debut party wearing last year's fashions. Seriously, this doesn't look any better than "Forza" (Xbox) or "Gran Turismo 4" (PS2).

I'm not sure what upsets me more: the horrendous mess that is Perfect Dark Zero's single-player game or all the glowing reviews out there (including Che's). Are these crazies playing the same game as me?

What makes Duty so special is the A.I. Enemies make great use of cover; they charge when it's to their advantage and give up positions when they know they're beat; they actually seem to understand grenades, running from them or tossing them at the perfect spot to draw you out of hiding.

So it's too bad that the missions themselves suffer major malfunctions. Despite their frantic firefights, they're completely canned, with enemies--and even your allies--going through the same motions every time.

The targeting system is useless, the levels are bland and filled with countless invisible barriers, and the camera is so hard to manipulate in tight spaces that you'll often end up staring right at 50's face as he gets ventilated by the dozen enemies he just can't see.

The combat is startlingly visceral if a bit tricky to master, but your thumb may ache after hours of pressing in the analog stick to sprint. It's not a survival-horror revolution, but it's an adventure worth experiencing.

For me, Project Gotham Racing 3 is the best of 360's launch titles; it grafts the series' appealing mix of sorta realistic (much more so than Ridge Racer) but still forgiving (much more so than Forza) handling to some of the most impressive graphics I've ever seen on a console.

The majority of the game is one long gunfight, shifting between a traditional free-looking aim to lock-on, slow-mo shooting. It's good stuff, if you don't mind your foes acting like targets in a carnival game.

On the sports side of things, this baller is hands-down the most visually stunning game at the 360 launch. Actually, it's the only one that truly looks "next-gen."

The game is practically a carbon copy of the current-gen edition. Seriously, now I know why the words "Xbox 360" are scribbled on the score overlay--it's almost the only way to tell that you're playing a supposedly enhanced version of NBA 2K6.

Other than striking character designs by an insanely talented artist (Hyung Tae Kim) and a flashy, complex combat system, it's business as usual in Magna Carta.

The game is a whole lotta fun. The pacing's a bit off--the story missions seem to take forever on the first few mountains, then you scream through the last three.

Aside from the high-shine gloss, though, a few extra pursuers in the cop chases are about all that differentiates this version from the current-gen game. My main beefs--the repetitive race events and not-very-challenging cop chases (especially earlier in the game)--are still here.